Total Solar Eclipse from Newport News, Virginia, March 7, 1970

They called it "The eclipse of the century." The anticipation leading up to it was immense. The east coast of the United States was going to go under totality from this solar eclipse. I remember as a kid how excited I was to be able to see and photography, a total eclipse of the sun. At that age, I really did not know how fortunate I was. I would learn that in life, we are almost always more fortunate than we think. Not something my 13 year old brain could fathom at that time.

It was a Saturday and the family gathered in the front yard to watch the event. I also noticed most of the neighbors were out in their front yards as well. How can you beat an eclipse going right over your own neighborhood? Plus, I was young, strong, and thought life would last forever. Now I'm an old man on heart medicine. If there's a lesson in all of this...don't live life vicariously. Live in the moment. Take advantage of what you have today. Like eclipses, there may not be a next time.

Most of the neighborhoods in Newport News were recently developed to provide housing for the exploding military industry that the Tidewater area was known for. They sort of had that prefabricated look. Many home owners were of the WW11 generation but their kids were absolute baby boomers.

I sort of miss those times. Society and culture had more continuity then. I'm not so sure over the decades we have improved on that. Most people valued family and security. It was really a great time to grow up. A few months earlier, we had watched man first walk on the moon, now this celestial event. Life seemed boundless. The possibilities were endless.

I remember going out on a cold winter night and seeing the display of the cosmos up above. There was little light pollution then and the sky seemed so vast. Since Star Trek was on prime time TV, it seemed that type of future was possible. My father showed me one night the trail of a satellite as it made its way across the night sky. I looked with amazement and wonder at it. I was so ready to be experiencing this eclipse.

With the technology of the times, I did a decent job of filming the eclipse it with an 8 mm camera. My father helped me use a welders glass attached to the outside of a cereal box for this makeshift device. The camera was inside the box. My theory that blocking out all ambient light would make a better image.

Everything went right that day, including the weather. It was a late winter day probably in the 60's. Felt good and got even colder during totality. I remember the diamond ring and Bailey's Beads on both ends on lunar contact. And just like that - it was gone. But the memories of that day remain.

Research tells me the totality lasted 93 seconds from our vantage point. Not long but long enough.

This image is of the eclipse that day in Newport News. The star to the left is Venus.

Comments

A Shit Ticket

Bad news. Jacamino was willing to sir on a call for two hours waiting for it to come out. We call that sand bagging. I call it "a shit ticket." There was so much business going on you couldn't shake a stick at it. Why tie yourself up like this in such a myopic way. Suit yourself dumbass. I made more money during the same time you ran the shit ticket. If Uber is around, you would not have known it today. posted from Bloggeroid

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FUCK UBER

Listen, you Uber fuckers, you screwheads. You are stealing my shit. I tried to be rational (What's that?). But not now. I am a man who will not take it anymore. A man who stands up against the scum, the cunts, the dogs, the filth, the shit. I am a man who stands up. Look at it this way. A man takes a job, you know? And that job - I mean, like that - That becomes what he is. You know, like - You do a thing and that's what you are. Like I've been a cabbie for nineteen years. Ten years at night. I still don't own my own cab. You know why? Because I don't want to. That must be what I want. To be on the night shift drivin' somebody else's cab. You understand? I mean, you become - You get a job, you become the job. One guy lives in a shit hole, another lives on drugs. You pick up a lawyer. Another guy's a doctor. Another guy dies. Another guy gets well. People are born, y'know? Why do you want to drive Uber? You think you can avoid your destiny? You'l...

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Who's picking you up?

She would never make it on the mean streets. She will stay with the craft beer drinkers and poor people suffer. People like the lady above is what is wrong with the rideshare concept. This women will never go into the bad part of town. Poor people in society suffer enough, now, they won't even be able to get rides. The cheery pickers have arrived. Cab driving will now be an exclusive right of passage for hipsters, on the same level of Starbucks coffee, skinny jeans, and alternative rock with craft beers, and the other sacraments of hipsterism. This has to be stopped. Jobs are at stake. "Led by companies like Uber, Lyft, and Sidecar, ride-sharing has rocketed into the mainstream in a relatively short time frame. Uber started up in San Francisco four years ago, and has since expanded to 128 cities worldwide. The company's most recent valuation came in at an eye-popping $18 billion. Uber founder and CEO Travis Kalanick has publicly stated that his company is doubling ...

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What happened to Tommy Duncan and Sticks of Fire blog?

The image below is a 2005 TBT article I still have about the Tampa blogger scene. The big boy was Tommy Duncan. He stopped blogging around 2008, and was never seen again. Here is what Creative Loafing said about that era: "The 40-something blogger founded the most-often-cited independent Tampa Bay news blog, Sticks of Fire, in Feb. 2004, and the site, without much financial assistance from advertising, is still going strong today with a stable of more than a dozen regular contributors. In 2005, Duncan was featured in a tbt* story about the young lions of the local Internet. Today, about half of them have fallen by the wayside or (in the case of famous sexy blogger Rachel Moran) moved to New Jersey. Duncan keeps on posting. The local digital scene has grown, but he's not sure it has improved in quality."

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HCPT talks to Uber and Lyft drivers and passengers...WHY!?

This is what we should be doing in Tampa...Paris taxi drivers protest The makes no sense. We are going on another summer and the HCPTC is still negotiating and giving these Uber scum a forum. Why Goddamit! What part of illegal do you fuck heads at the PTC not understand? Don't you realize that your need of Viagra is going to kill off major industries! Perhaps its time the drivers took it to the streets. Remember Jimmy Hoffa

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Stuck in the mud and a ripoff tow

Kevin and I went to a walkthrough at a nature preserve. It was full of wildlife and we even found an abandoned hunting cabin from decades ago. That was there long before civilization found its way to north Hillsborough county. I'm glad we found the cabin because it began to rain like crazy. It rained for a good half hour before we could finish the hike. We then went as far as we could but much of the trails were flooded. You see I have boots on. When we got back to the cars, there was standing water for we were in the grass. I started the cab and buried it in the mud. You should have been there. You would have laughed your ass off. After waiting 2.5 hours for the tow, he winched me on to the parking lot and charged $100. I found out the charge should have been $45. I think the company will dispute this. I hope. posted from Bloggeroid

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China does not care about Syria...why does Obama?

China has no military bases in other countries. They could care less what others are doing. They focus on themselves. I suggest we do the same. I found this on a foreign policy website. "Chinese foreign policy emphasises non-alignment and non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries. That makes any need or desire for overseas bases unlikely and, in fact, the PLA itself has recently stated that China "has no plans, nor is there a necessity, to establish overseas military bases".

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Sukka the cat

There is a lady I pick up every morning that puts $100 in my pocket (paid by our great accounts). Her cat comes out and loves me and rubs up on me every morning. Uber has nothing like this. United Cab driver's are rocking out while Uber punks live for nine dollar fares that they have to give 20% to Ubet. Great gig guys. LOL! Sukka loves me because I am legal and you scum drivers suck hind tit...boys and girls. Get over it. I rule and make more in one hour then you do in one day. Plus, this kitty loves me! posted from Bloggeroid

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BATS TAXI undercuts Tampa

I had a ride to the Tradewinds resort and we passed Bats Taxi on St. Petersburg Beach. I had to direct my fares attention from their marquee because the advertising a rate to Tampa International Airport of $54. My meter was already over $75 and I did not want to field questions about our higher rate. What I hear is Bats has the beach sowed up. They make their money on volume. Cool. I just hope their lease payment is lower then ours.

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Port Tampa bank once robbed by Bonnie & Clyde

In the ghost town area of Port Tampa is an old building that is now a public library. The residents that live here may be unaware of the history of this building, and the Port of Tampa. This building used to be a bank and it held all the payroll money for the ship and dock workers. That is why it became a robbery target for Bonnie and Clyde, who were depression era bank robbers. Their plan was fairly sound with the port not having been annexed by Tampa and a dirt road being the only way in and out. It worked. They got away with it. Too bad for the workers. There was no FDIC back then and I imagine many guys did not get paid that week. Conditions were hard back then, much less, to have it compounded by being broke. Port Tampa has a rich history that I am now researching.

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Tampa Taxi Shots

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